Yesterday I finally got around to exploring the Pokémon Dream World.  I put it off initially due to suffering a 100+ hour overdose of Pokémon White, but figured it would occupy my lunch break while at work.  In the morning I tucked Kooshtank, my Ferroseed, into bed and set off for work.  Once lunch rolled around it was time to get started.

I sat through a number of tutorials bringing me up to speed on the very simplistic mechanics of the game.  I had a home to decorate, a garden to grow berries in, and there was a crazy psychedelic rainbow bridge that brought me to a magical land where I would stack ice cream because a Bidoof wanted me to.  It was oddly cathartic how simple everything was.

Berries are very much the currency of the Dream World.  If you want to buy furnishings for your home, it’s gonna cost you some berries.  You want to stack ice cream for Bidoof? Oh yeah, that’s a berry.  You want to befriend a pokémon at the magical tree at the end of the rainbow bridge?  You better believe that costs a berry.  Naturally this emphasizes growing them and collecting them as there are numerous different varieties.  You can find them while exploring rainbow land, or trade other users for them (more on this later).

Visually, I enjoyed the backgrounds which have a kind of warm, 2D, hand-drawn feel.  It’s almost like Winnie the Pooh meets Pokémon.  The mini-games in contrast look rather lazily compiled, like flash games one may have played on Neopets in 5th grade.  The balancing in most of them is atrocious as well since skill and luck are nearly interchangeable. But they are a necessary evil as one of the main draws of the Dream World is finding and befriending pokémon via these games.  Said pokémon can then be transferred over to your game to be trained.

Interacting with other trainers is somewhat cumbersome.  First off, you must change your privacy settings if you want to be seen or see others which is an unnecessary hassle.  Then when you go to your pal map, random people are displayed from all over the world, the majority of which seem to be doing absolutely nothing with the Dream World.  Every once in a while you’ll stumble upon a Japanese trainer and hobble up to their magnificent shimmering castle like a starving pauper, taking as many berries as you can from their swap shelf.  The swap shelf is an awesome feature that allows you to place unwanted items out in the open, which can be traded by anyone who visits.  I imagine once the Dream World has been live a little longer it will be more robust.

The Dream World is being used to bring promotions to players without having to drive down to your nearest Game Stop.  Today, in fact, I played a mini game which allows you to meet an Eevee evolution in the Dream World.  If you can clear the 4th level in Play to Befriend a Pokemon!, then you will be awarded an Eevee evolution based on what elemental orb you gathered the most of.  I managed to get Umbreon, who is a nasty tank and my favorite Eeveelution:

I can definitely see the Dream World becoming a new lunch-time habit of mine.  My compulsion to gather all the berries and spruce up my poké-pad has already set in.  Plus, if Nintendo/Game Freaks keeps offering promotions via the game, I will be even more encouraged to keep playing.  So if you still haven’t ODed on Pokémon, the Dream World is definitely worth checking out.

How To Get to the Dream World Tutorial Below:

How To Get to the Dream World

1. You must have met Fennel in the game and acquired your C-Gear.
2. You must have created a Pokémon Trainer Club account.
3. Using your login credentials from your Pokémon Trainer Club account, log in to the Global Link and create a Global Link username.
4. Now load up your game (not your save file) and go to the main menu. From there select “Game Sync Settings” to receive your Game Sync ID. *NOTE* This can take a long time.
5. Enter your Game Sync ID into the registration portion of the Global Link page in the designated area for the game you have (Pokémon Black or Pokémon White).
6. Your Global Link profile is now synced with your game, so load up your save file and turn on your C-Gear.  Go to “Online” and select “Game Sync”.
7. You will be prompted to put a pokémon to bed. *NOTE* You can only select a pokémon from your box, NOT your party.  *NOTE 2* This can take a long time.
8. Go to the Global Link website and click on Dream World.
9. Start exploring!

A few more things worth noting:

• If you encounter and befriend a pokémon in the Dream World, or want to transfer over an item, you’ll need to warp to the Entralink to acquire them in game.  To do this, boot up your C-Gear and select “Wireless” and then “Entralink”.  Once in the Entralink you can visit the Entree forest directly north to find befriended pokémon or talk to the boy near the entrance of the forest to acquire your items.
• Befriended pokémon can be caught with a Dream Ball, an item which magically appears in your inventory and has a 100% catch chance.
• You can only play the Dream World for one hour a day.  Your next session can be no less than 24 hours later.  If you go to the Global Link page and click on Dream World before then, a prompt will alert you as to how much time is left before you can play again.

Hopefully this helps, I know I wish I had something like this when I was getting started.  If anyone is lost or requires further clarification feel free to leave a comment.

My history with Pokémon goes back nearly as far as my history with video games. I still fondly remember the glorious day in which I acquired Pokémon Red and the long summer spent mastering it.  Hell, that was over 10 years ago…  There is just something about Pokémon that makes it memorable — the interaction with friends, picking your starter, and other familiar elements that permeate each generation.

Does the newest addition to the franchise, Pokémon Black & White, promise to be the memory-maker I have come to expect from one of my most beloved series?

Story

The story for most Pokémon titles is simple.  You are a new trainer who is on a quest to earn their eight gym badges and beat the Elite Four, thus becoming the very best.  Sure, from time to time someone will say, “Wow, you really blahblah know how to blahblah love and understanding.”  But generally you feel rather ordinary and your journey only slightly extraordinary.

Black & White is different right off the bat.  First off, you have friends in this game, rather than rivals.  They each have their own personalities and (despite being somewhat underdeveloped) do help make a game with a silent protagonist feel more alive.  They pop up randomly to do battle with you, give you a tip or an item and vanish back on their own journey.  Likewise, the game’s gym leaders have much more of a role in the world of the game.  You help them take care of their respective cities and at times they help you along your journey.  You get to know the various gym leaders in this way. By the end of the game, they don’t feel so much like an obstacle that once blocked your path, but a true ally.

While we are on the topic of allies, I must mention the enemy of the game: Team Plasma.  Generally the enemies in Pokémon games feel flimsy.  They have a bunch of Zubats and Ratatas and somehow I am supposed to be afraid that they are going to take over the world?  Is that what they wanted to do; take over the world?  Hell, I don’t even know — their goals were always rather unclear.  Why did they want that Slowpoke tail again?  Well, the goals of Team Plasma are anything but flimsy: they want to drive a stake through the world of Unova, separating people and pokémon once and for all.

Team Plasma actually had me questioning the ethics of pokémon training.  Is it wrong to fight creatures against one another for personal gain and to seal them up in a computer when they aren’t needed?  Still, the thought of a world where no one could be a pokémon trainer just seems too much like… reality.  I had to prevent that!  My special world filled with awesome creatures felt threatened — for the first time.  As my motivation became clear, I was more inspired to finish the game.

Gameplay

Pokémon Black & White take a number of steps to prevent the player from feeling “RPG fatigue”.  You know that feeling where you just can’t put up with one more random battle let alone another dungeon (relevant)?  Thankfully, the game has very few maddeningly complex dungeons.  Also, nearly every dungeon or route will have an NPC which (if you beat them in a battle) will heal your team free of charge.  This not only saved a massive amount of time but allowed for speedy and efficient leveling.

Another improvement is the removal of a heavy emphasis on HMs such as Cut and Flash.  You still need them to pass certain points, but this happens far less frequently than in past titles.  TMs have also been massively improved: they are no longer single use items.  This allowed me to tailor my team for certain situations.  For instance, if I had a TM for a move that would be effective against a certain gym, I taught it to as many pokémon as I could.  This is in contrast to what I used to do with TMs: save them and never use them, ever.

There are also a few changes which feel rather tacked on, such as triple battles.  After double battles, triple battles just feel like the obvious direction to go, and aside from having to take range into consideration, they bring very little new to the table.  Now, I bought Pokémon White — the Black version, in contrast, has rotation battles, which are really more interesting in my opinion as they actually feel like a new way to battle.  Both battle types, however, happen far less than standard one-on-one matches.  I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a single gym which challenged the player to become familiar with one of the new styles of battle, making them feel that much more tacked on.

Multiplayer functionality feels polished yet confusing.  Having to register a friend via your pal pad (and have them do the same for you) and then enter a specific trade room to trade with someone via wi-fi is a chore the first time around.  Once you get it down, it isn’t bad.  Trading with someone locally is a breeze, and you can access your full roster including all your boxes from the trade menu which is a huge time saver.  Expect a slightly steeper learning curve than you should have to put up with, but once you know the lay of the land there is a lot that can be done with the game’s multiplayer features.

The post-game is always important to me for a Pokémon title.  I want to have tons to do after beating the game, and for the most part I wasn’t let down.  There are a number of new towns the player can visit after the credits roll, and along the way you’ll encounter some high level trainers who offer a decent challenge.  Pokémon from other generations will start to pop up in the wild and you can even trade them from past games as well.

However, I was disappointed to finally arrive at White Forest (an end-game area unique to Pokémon White) and find it totally empty and thus useless.  I was promised I could catch a number of low-level pokémon from past generations here, but may have actually arrived too soon.  The residents populate the town based on the number of days spent on your journey, and they are the deciding factor in what wild pokémon you can find.  White Forest aside, Pokémon Black & White has tons to offer players after the main story is bested.

Presentation

The graphics in Pokémon Black & White don’t stray too far from other Pokémon titles on the Nintendo DS.  In-battle sprites move, which is nice, and the cries of this generation of pokémon sound really great — almost like real animals.  The game also experiments with different angles, having the camera pan around or zoom in and out rather than only offering a static top-down perspective:

This is a first for the series and it did make the world feel more convincing.

After sending out your pokémon in battle, the screen zooms, bringing the defending pokémon into clear focus, but sadly pixelating your pokémon’s sprite:

This bothered me for the first few hundred battles, but was soon forgotten as an issue. Still, it felt like the developers couldn’t be bothered to either make separate back-sprites or find a workaround.

Conclusions

The Pokémon Black & White experience feels very user friendly.  I never felt as though I was trudging through the game, or that I needed to take a break out of frustration.  No, rather the story eased me along and kept me pleasantly engaged — more so than any other Pokémon game has.  Meanwhile, certain aspects from past games which had provided monotony in place of challenge were either eliminated or tweaked in the player’s favor.  All in all the game is a pleasure to play. I would recommend it to anyone from a hardcore RPG gamer to even those squeamish about the commitment that comes with RPGs.  I am confident that Pokémon Black & White will have a place in the hallowed walls of my fondest Pokémon memories.

Last night I beat Pokémon White — expect a review in the near future!  Upon doing so I acquired the national pokédex, meaning I can now find some old friends from past generations. The first one I stumbled upon was sold to me for 500 pokédollars by a shady dude on Marvelous Bridge.  That’s right: Magikarp.  For every generation, I have raised one of these dudes up and unleashed holy dragon rage hell on all who crossed my path — or splashed in their direction, depending on how far I was in the game.

Anyway, I got to thinking how I could breed an awesome Magikarp and I think I have figured it out:

1. Beat the game and acquire the national pokédex.
2. Head to Marvelous Bridge and save before you purchase your Magikarp.  Now, purchase one and reset the game until you get a female that has an Adamant nature.  This could take a while — I believe I had to restart about 20 times before I got lucky!  Once you do get one: save!
3. Now we need a Papa for our awesome Magikarp — a fish who has been around the block.  One that kicks ass and takes names.  To do this, make sure you first have a Minccino in your party.  Now, head over to Driftveil City and find Kyle, who just so happens to be looking for a Minccino and wants to trade a Basculin for one.  Now you may not know this, but Kyle is a fucking idiot, because he is sitting on an awesome Basculin.  Not only is it also adamant, but it has perfect IVs for attack.  I mean a perfect 31.  Once you complete the trade, save again.
4. Now head to Nimbasa City and go to the Battle Subway.  If you haven’t already, fight some trainers until you earn 16 BP.  Speak to one of the attendants and exchange your points for a Power Bracer.
5. Now we need an Everstone.  The best way to get one of these is to capture wild Roggenrola or Boldore, as there is a 50% chance that they will be holding one.
6. Give the Everstone to your Mama Magikarp and the Power Bracer to your Papa Basculin.
7. Head to the day care on Route 3, hand both pokémon and a cassette of Barry White’s Greatest Hits to the daycare lady.  Ride your bike up and down Route 3 and try not to think of the epic, adamant fish sex that is happening.
8. Eventually the day care man will call you over and present you with an egg.  Odds are pretty good that the spawn within will have an Adamant nature (it will definitely have 31 attack IVs) meaning with proper EV training, you could end up with a level 100 Gyarados with 383 attack — the absolute ceiling for this stat.  If your fish baby doesn’t have an Adamant nature, just make a new egg until you get one which does.

I plan on making my own godly carp now that I have plotted all this out, so if you are too lazy to do all this, I may be willing to just trade babies to people.  If you are interested in trading, follow me on Twitter and I will announce when the babies are ready to go to good homes.  Otherwise, make your own and experience the joys of pokémon breeding.  Soon we will overturn some boats and shit with dragon rage, just as long as they only have 40 HP.

Related Entries:
So You Wanna Be a Pokémon Breeder?

Atlus has announced via the newest issue of Famitsu (and their website) the sequel to Devil Survivor for the Nintendo DS.  The game will be available in Japan Q3 (July-September) 2011.

I am surprised Atlus decided to continue Devil Survivor.  The first one had… its moments, but definitely was not one of their crowning achievements.  The sequel seems to suggest they’ve found a formula that (they think) works.  This is possibly best reflected by Devil Survivor 2’s leading trio: a silent protagonist, a know-it-all male friend, and a cheerful but literally know-nothing female friend.  They are thrust into the middle of a conflict between supernatural beings and must survive by signing a contract, allowing them to summon demons.  Funny; that is the first game in a nutshell.  Is Devil Survivor Atlus’s Pokémon?

Getting back to the lame leading trio: I am still haunted by how painfully idiotic Yuzu was in Devil Survivor.  I understand this is some common theme in Japan — this specific arrangement of character “types”, but I can’t stand it.  It feels like the dumbing down of RPGs.  How this series was green-lighted for not only a 3DS remake and a sequel is mind boggling.  What of Strange Journey and its infinitely more developed cast of characters?  Note to self: start playing Strange Journey again.

Naturally I am not thrilled about this game, although there is mention of a system which is based off the protagonists’ various relationships.  I may keep an eye on Devil Survivor 2 just to understand the mechanics, but otherwise I will be ignoring this game as hard as I can.

Do you remember me saying that the Global Link for the Western release of Pokémon Black and White would be up March 30th?  Well, due to the earthquake in Japan it has been delayed with the promise of being launched sometime this spring.

Naturally I am bummed about this, but I also understand that Japan’s resources are strained with reconstruction efforts.  Although it may be difficult, I will patiently await the Global Link and hope Japan get’s back on its feet ASAP.

If you are wondering why you are unable to execute a Game Sync or access the Pokémon Dream World, the reason is because the Pokémon Global Link has not yet launched — and will not do so until March 30th.  I was confused about this myself, as I thought the only requirement to sending a pokémon into the dreamscape was the C-Gear, which I did acquire.  If you try before the 30th you will receive an error message (Error code: 13212).

I am bummed that this feature is not available to coincide with the game’s launch.  It feels especially bizarre since the events in the game make mention of these features directly.  I want to plant berries and tuck my pokémon in bed and all that crazy stuff.  Anyway, this post is for anyone who was confused about that was happening with the pokémon internets.  Let’s hope it’s worth the wait.

It’s hard to find time to play games when you work full-time, freelance and try to maintain a steady drawing schedule.  Gone are the days of RPG grindfests, where I could easily spend hours leveling up the hourglass used by my favorite Patty in Phantom Brave.  Since evolving into a productive member of society, any standard RPG couldn’t hold my attention long enough to beat them.  It is disheartening to play a title for two hours and feel like you are getting nowhere.  Fortunately, this is where puzzle games started to fill in the gap.  Short and sweet, it was satisfying to start and finish a title in a span of about 20 hours.  So I became that guy.  The robot-guiding, metchsteek-counting, portal-jumping that guy.

So it was no wonder that when Capcom sent us a copy of Shu Takumi’s Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Roy pawned it off to me.  He shucked the package like an ear of corn, glanced at its contents and immediately put it into my extended paw.  I swapped out my copy of Unwound Future in my Chocobo-case-clad DS and started the game that night.

I was hooked, you guys.

I honestly can’t remember that last time I have been so engrossed in a title.  The cleverly scripted characters, the peppy music, the intriguing game play with its mystery-laden storyline — all of it kept me sucked in for hours at a time.  Where normally I would play a little bit of Layton in the mornings before work, I found that I could not do this with Ghost Trick.  It kept me wanting more.

Story

Questioning the motives of the desk lamp

To start with, you wake up as a departed soul with no bearings on who you were in your past.  A helpful possessed desk lamp gives you some idea: you have just died, and in order to solve the mystery of your death you have until dawn before you cease to exist.  You also have the inexplicable ability to possess and manipulate objects — a unique ability that not every soul has.  Combined with the ability to manipulate time — where you can traverse back to four minutes before a person has died — you find yourself to be a pretty powerful little soul, capable of nudging and push-pulling fate until death can be avoided.

Over the course of the game, you find clues about yourself (only going by the name Sissel), and the group of people who have had an indirect hand in your death.  The chain of events turns out to be much bigger than initially thought and a web of mysteries embedded into other mysteries leaves you hanging up until the very end.  The diverse cast of characters propels you through each chapter of the story, including blue-colored baddies, a crackpot police squad led by a dancing detective, and an overly helpful Pomeranian that greets any guest — even those brandishing guns — with an unbridled “WELCOME!!”.  The colorful bunch twirl, dig, jump and bark their way into your quest to solve the mysteries surrounding your death.

The clear star of the show

Some of the characters die several times, at which point you must save them again, gain more information, and continue on your way until another point where you find that they have not been able to survive a giant swinging turkey leg to the head.  Thankfully the robust storytelling combined with the evolving game play make Ghost Trick anything but tedious.  In a game where the player will find themselves repeatedly playing out the same four minutes over and over to solve a puzzle, mixing it up with generous amounts of cut scenes is greatly appreciated.

What was that noise?

Mechanics

With the help of the player’s trusty stylus, a Ghost mode can be activated through which the player can freeze time and see which objects have the ability to become possessed  The upper screen acts as a handy guide that explains whether the object is capable of moving or not.  Once the desired object is possessed by dragging Sissel’s core to it, the player can go back to present time and press the Trick button to activate whatever abilities the object has.  A series of such possess-and-trick actions can cause a chain of events that will prevent a death from occurring.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As the game progresses, the puzzles become harder and can involve some serious timing skills.  There are some points where the player must possess, trick, and possess another item while the initial trick is taking place.  Some of the puzzles, when contained within the four-minute time frame before a character’s death, require you to excruciatingly wait until the very last second to pull off a chain of events.  Other puzzles can be found within a puzzle that is already taking place.  Yo dawg and Inception references aside, I found that there were many ways in which the game broke its own boundaries and expanded upon the loopholes and rules in which the Ghost world abides by.  These elements made for a rewarding gaming experience.

Downsides

Due to the nature of the game, one will find themselves repeatedly playing a scene over multiple times.  Many puzzles contain a “save” point of sorts where after an action has been completed, a “fate change” occurs.  The player may then choose to re-start the puzzle after the fate change and bypass playing it from the beginning.  Despite this helpful option, there are some cases where the player has no choice but to tap through dialog scenes at the start of each puzzle.

It's only funny the first couple times you read it

Likewise, sometimes the player must read dialog a second time when they are changing things up in the past in order to receive additional information from the ghosts viewing the event unfold.  In a game where puzzles revolve around timing, it can become frustrating to have to read through dialog without an option to skip or cancel.

Another complaint — albeit a minor one — is that there is no way to explore the entire room in Ghost mode.  Whereas the game encourages you to view your surroundings and explore, this can only be achieved during present time.  I often found myself trying to move around a room while in Ghost mode in order to get a better grasp of what could or couldn’t be possessed.

One last (possible non)issue is the challenging nature of the game itself.  The puzzles were satisfying for what the game was trying to accomplish — a fast-paced series of interlinking events that move the player through a story that takes place in a single night — but I do feel as though they could have been harder in some instances.  That being said, I won’t deny that there were one or two puzzles that had me seriously stumped.

Possessing a T-shirt

Overall

Take it from that guy — Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is an addictive, funny and stylish game that DS players should add to their repertoire.  Its fresh look and innovative storytelling will leave you guessing until the very end.

Nintendo recently announced the North American release date for Pokémon Black and White, so I took some time to research which version I would eventually purchase come March 6th.  I settled on the White version, as White Forest sounds more interesting to me than Black City.

The version specific pokémon were also a minor determining factor — I rather prefer this adorable fetal blob pokémon to this gothic lolita one.  It’s worth noting that the inclusion of Houndoom and Reshiram provide the Black version with a welcome splash of the fire element, something the last generation of games sorely lacked.  It doesn’t look like that will be as much of an issue for generation 5 though.  So which version will you buy?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

In my research I also learned about something called “Pokémon Dream World“, which is the feature I am most excited about at the moment.  Forgive me if this is already common knowledge, but like I said, I only recently started looking into the game with any real motivation.

For those who don’t know, Pokémon Dream World is like the pokéwalker for this version of games.  You can select a single pokémon to upload to a web-based world, complete with a house which can be furnished and upgraded.  This is now where the player will grow berries, so no more hunting down loamy soil:

You can also find items, make friends, trade and perform a number of other activities which produce a reward that is transferable back to your game.

To those of you only interested in perfect stats and competition, the Dream World brings an important new dimension to strategy.  Some pokémon born or caught in the Dream World will receive different abilities that would be impossible to earn in the normal game.  Take a look at this page on Serebii.net which lists each pokemon’s Dream World ability.

In Japan, players are limited to an hour a day with the Dream World per account.  This could be due in part to the server strain of so many people who own copies of the game all trying to access it.  Hopefully a more robust server will allow this feature to be used at greater lengths when this service opens to North American users in March.

**UPDATE**

I forgot to include a note in this post that starting today, players can head to their local Gamestop and earn a shiny version of Raikou.  Having just one of the three event specific legendary dogs will allow you to capture Zoroark in Pokémon Black and White.  For more information, check out the official page for this event.

A lot of people weren’t happy with the new starter evolutions for Pokémon Black and White. Maybe 152 other pokémon will make you feel better? A lot of them are crazy. Really crazy. Like this thing which carries a stick that turns into a beam and then some pillars:

Too bad it’s pure fighting — could have had some promise with a weird type combo.  If you want to peruse the new pokémon in order and see their type, head to Serebii.  They are even starting to get some abilities and base stats up!

A few interesting combos worth noting:

• Kyuremu #646: Dragon + Ice
• Urugamosu #637: Bug + Fire
• Goruggo #623: Ground + Ghost
• Maggyo #618: Electric + Ground
• Shanderaa #609: Ghost + Fire

The list goes on really, there are some really unique critters in this batch. Is that enough to get you past their weird appearances, or is this generation of pokémon just a sick collection of twisted freaks?  I find that any pokémon is loveable, as long as it’s my pokémon complete with an awesome nickname.

Matrix, the developers of those adorable Final Fantasy DS ports, is the same team who worked on the upcoming title Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light.  Square Enix’s PR team was kind enough to facilitate an interview between me and the team via e-mail.  I didn’t ask many questions, shooting for quality over quantity.  Here is what they had to say:

• Matrix Software has now made both a Final Fantasy spin-off title and a remake of Final Fantasies 3 and 4.  Which presents more challenges and which proves more rewarding?

Matrix has contributed to the remakes of FINAL FANTASY III and FINAL FANTASY IV, and has now worked with the Square Enix staff to develop a perfect RPG for Nintendo DS.  We received many accolades from players due to their contributions, and hoped to collaborate with them on a new title.

Difficulties do exist in creating a remake, but there are even greater difficulties with creating a new title.  Despite this, those difficulties become rewarding and serve as a driving force in development.

• This is the team’s 3rd FINAL FANTASY title for the Nintendo DS.  Is there a reason this is the platform you prefer to work with?  Have any other platforms been considered, or is this a directive from Square Enix?

Due to the same reasons stated above, developing the product for DS was determined from the start.

• Can you discuss the reasoning behind skills which auto-target in the battle system?  This feature has received a bit of criticism in the West.

Given it is a handheld game, our initial aim was to increase the speed of the game play.  It was to make various command selections, such as abilities and magic, easier.

• The game seems to emulate old school RPGs and yet MP was done away with for a more modern, AP driven battle system.  What was the thought behind that?

The concept for this title is “a classic, traditional RPG using current technology.”  In the use of the word technology, we mean implementing new systems that take playability into consideration. By unifying various magic and abilities into a single concept called Action Points, the barrier to entry is made lower while maintaining a variety of possibilities.

• The crown system reminds me a bit of the garment grid used in FINAL FANTASY X-2.  Was any inspiration taken from this system?

We wanted to create a new type of job system, and the Crown system was created based on an idea generated by the Matrix staff. We think that you will be able to experience the excitement surrounding job changes and enjoy the freedom provided by avatar-style customization at the same time!

• Can we expect more collaborative titles with Square Enix?

We are already involved in a number of projects.  For a title already scheduled for release, Matrix, Composer Mizuta and myself are collaborating on FINAL FANTASY LEGENDS The Warriors of Light and Darkness, which will be released on mobile phones in Japan this summer.  We’re looking into releasing this overseas, so if you have any requests, please let us know!

The translator was kind enough to include the original Japanese translation of my questions as well as the staff’s answers.  I couldn’t help but notice that the latter part of my question concerning the auto-target system was not translated (“This feature has received a bit of criticism in the West”).  I suppose this may have been to prevent confusion since Matrix may not be aware of import reviews or perhaps my comment was rude or would have sounded rude post translation.  Either way, just pointing that out!

Ultimately I couldn’t extract anything too exciting from the Matrix staff, but it’s always nice to hear what goes on in the minds of developers.